~ If you could read my mind

Monthly Archives: June 2013

I have a fascinating guest speaker today. Please join me welcoming John Rosenman.
Two of John’s science-fiction adventure novels recently became audiobooks and are available at http://www.audible.com. They are Beyond Those Distant Stars, winner of AllBooks Review Editor’s Choice Award for 2010 and his African deep-space epic A Senseless Act of Beauty. At Norfolk State University, John designed and taught a course in writing and publishing Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, and he is a former Chairman of HWA (Horror Writers Association). John and his wife Jane have been married 45 years, and they have two children. John likes to hear from his readers. You can email him at jroseman@cox.net and also visit his blog at http://johnrosenman.blogspot.com and web site at http://www.johnrosenman.com. He invites readers to check out one of his interviews at http://www.milscifi.com/files/inter-JBR-BS.htm.

1. How long have you been writing?

A long time. I started scribbling in the womb. No, not that long ago. Sixty-five years or so ago, when I was five or six, I scribbled stories in cartoon strips using crayon. I used to lie in bed at night and listen to the radio. The Shadow. Inner Sanctum. Lights Out. The Fat Man. No visuals to aid the imagination. Just sound. Basically your brain did it all. I’ve always been writing, making up stories. I remember my first sentence from an unfinished western novel, The Twisted Years: “Jeff Stancher didn’t pay any attention to the Abilene stage as it bumped and rattled into town.” Ironically, while I’ve always written fiction, it took me a long time to know it was something for a guy to do or to follow as a course in life. I mean, you couldn’t make a living at it, could you?

2. What made you finally decide to get serious about writing?

Hard to say. Perhaps the turning point was when I sold my law books and left Western Reserve Law School in Ohio without a moment’s notice to my parents and hopped a Greyhound bus for New Orleans. I slung hamburgers for a buck an hour, got a room there for $8 a week, and settled down to write the great American novel. Wearing a suit and carrying an attaché case just didn’t do it for me. And I hated writing legal briefs.

3. Describe what you consider your ideal writing conditions.

A computer and an Internet that works and my wife doing the cooking. Plus being retired and having a minimum of obligations except for playing tennis four or five times a week.
And good health for both of us. Otherwise, leave me alone!

4. Describe your rituals for preparing to write.

I sit down and turn on the computer. I try not to be seduced by all my email messages and by Facebook and Twitter and the Yahoo loops and all the rest going on UP THERE above my desktop and files. DOWN THERE is where I should be, either writing or editing a story or novel, but UP THERE is so seductive, especially if it’s the MUSE CHAT ROOM discussing promotion and there’s a dozen or so MUSE FEMALES and ME, THE LONE MALE, which is awfully good karma, if you ask me.

But if I resist the temptations of UP THERE and click on a fiction file, then I can write for hours. EXCEPT that more and more recently, I have to PROMOTE. Yes, verily, I find that promotion has become more and more a part of my ritual. As Lea, the wise MuseItUp publisher has said, at times promotion of your books can suck all the air out of your sails. Susan, right now in doing this interview, I am both promoting myself and my most recent novel Kingdom of the Jax. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy talking about myself, my books, and the writing process. It’s just that now that I’m retired, it seems there should be more time to actually write, but somehow . . . do you know what I mean?

5. How often do you write?

The easy answer is not enough. I try to do it every day. But some days I don’t do it at all. Yesterday I spent over two hours editing a novel I wrote over thirty years ago (it will be published later this year) and editing a chapter of my next Inspector novel. I’d like to just sit down and write my next novel. I probably write a couple hours a day but on different, scattered projects. Fact is, I have to do housekeeping and promoting of books I’ve written. Since I’m not good at promotion, I’d like to be able to hire a publicist and staff. But I can’t.

6. Are you a plotter, a pantser or some combination of both?

Basically a pantzer. When I used to go to cons, some writers on panels were meticulous planners, even constructing outlines hundreds of pages long with elaborate character sketches. Others got by on a shoeshine and a smile. I like to make it up as I go along. In my current novel, Defender of the Flame, the conclusion of what I call “The Turtan Trilogy,” I do have the basic conclusion in mind and even the last couple of sentences written, which is rare for me. Years ago, with Speaker of the Shakk, published by Mundania Press, I actually wrote out a complete outline. I was proud of myself. But then I changed the novel so much, the outline was little more than a springboard into something else. Still, it was helpful, and in general I’d recommend that writers use them. It’s just I like the freedom of marching forth into the wilderness without a map and a compass.

7. Describe one of your favorite characters and tell us who you patterned them after and why.

Well, since Kingdom of the Jax just came out, I’ve gotta talk about Turtan. I suppose a good part of his genesis lies in Joe Haldeman’s classic work of science fiction, The Forever War. He initially submitted it to over a dozen publishers without success. Its protagonist fights in a war that lasts over a thousand years. I wanted to explore that premise, only I took it further and focused almost solely on one person, an agent or Inspector who so far has fought in a war for four thousand years. He travels across space in “freeze ships” in a state of suspended animation. The journeys or missions last decades and centuries, and he seeks weapons that might possibly turn the tide against the Cen, vicious, seemingly invincible aliens who have brought humans to the brink of ruin. I wanted to explore what it must be like to be such a man, to live outside of time and normal human contact, to love and leave women and dozens of children he has fathered and will never see again. What terrible price must he pay in order to serve and attempt to save the human race, and what will be the effect upon him to have made such a prolonged sacrifice?

Turtan is the best, the best by far, and because of him, the human race has survived, though ultimately it seems even his transcendent gifts cannot save us. It is not just that the enemy is relentless and remorseless, but that like Christ, Turtan has not only been betrayed, but betrayed by his own leaders, and even with a kiss. While I am not a Christian, the concept of a cosmic savior who will give his all to save humanity has proved too potent for me to resist. Yet Turtan, a nonbeliever, would be the first to scoff at such a flattering comparison, and he would turn from such praise in disgust even as the parallels between him and Christ continue to mount. Despite Turtan’s flaws, he remains what the enemy emperor himself called humanity’s “greatest knight,” its most courageous and magnificent hero.

8. Where do you go for inspiration?

One place I used to go was a local Barnes & Noble. It was magical. I’d walk through the place, just chill, and let my eyes do the walking. It was important to relax and not force it. One time I saw a title, The Calm Technique. Bam! Just like that another title (complete with idea) leapt into my mind: The Death Technique. It was a horror story about . . . well, you don’t want to know, but I sold it to a pro hardback anthology. Another time at B & N, I opened a book and ran my eyes casually down a page. Without even seeing the letters . . . Bam! A dark fantasy story leapt virtually complete into my noggin. This must have happened to me nearly twenty times in that sacred store.

Often it’s been a minor, seemingly trivial thing that’s ignited a story idea. My inspiration has come from the most inconsequential of sources. And yes, some of the stories have been lousy and haven’t worked at all. Or they’ve had promise and have simply fallen apart in my clumsy hands. I even wrote one unpublished novel based on a single word: Dreamfarer.

My first novel, though, The Best Laugh Last, came as most first novels do, from my deep personal experience, and it was published by McPherson & Company. My second novel, The Merry-Go-Round Man, was also inspired by personal experience, and it will be published later this year. The three fictional boys from my childhood, of whom I am one, will live again.

9. Name an author or authors who never fail to inspire you.

Suzette Haden Elgin. “For the Sake of Grace.” Actually, this is the only story I recall reading by her, but I had to mention it.

Octavia E. Butler. Her inclusiveness of all kinds of people. She wrote the African-American epic.

Orson Scott Card.

Mike Resnick.

George R. R. Martin.

10. Tell us about your current WIP.

Defender of the Flame is the conclusion (I THINK) to the Turtan trilogy, the first three books in the Inspector of the Cross series. I don’t want to give away too much. Can our hero defeat the cruel and ruthless Cen and end the five-thousand-year-old war at last? I introduce some new characters in this book, including Christopher Columbus Walker the Ninth and Christopher Columbus Walker the Tenth. In the previous book, Kingdom of the Jax, Sky Masterson made her debut. I named this fourteen-year-old girl Sky in honor of our twenty-year-old granddaughter. However, she’s lived at the bottom of a dark mine all her life and she’s dying of cancer. Some honor, huh? I’m not sure how my wife Jane would feel about it. But boy oh boy do I have big plans for Sky. She has always wanted to become an Inspector herself, and if she can just beat this cancer thing, she just might become an even greater Inspector than Turtan himself. Can you see a new series on the Event Horizon with Sky Masterson as the hero?

I better stop there. I have three other women in the novel, and they only have one body between them. Like Sky, they all love Turtan, who’s got a mess of other problems to worry about.

But that’s enough for now. Susan, thank you for swapping blogs with me. The best of good fortune with your writing!

I appreciate that and thanks so much for coming John. I have enjoyed every minute of this. You’ve given me a delightful, well-thought-out interview and left me with little more to do but post. That’s organized! And now I have another book to add to my TBR pile!!
Guys, you can find John at:
Website http://www.johnrosenman.com/

AN EXCERPT FROM KINGDOM OF THE JAX:
Galan broke free from Hatcher, who lunged and caught his robe, pulling him back. “Word’s got out. I can’t control them.”
Bullets were less likely to breach a space station’s walls, but they had a tendency to ricochet, which in personal terms could be more dangerous. Turtan felt this truth as a bullet spanged off the egress tube and burned a furrow along his shoulder. He crouched, trying to make himself as small a target as possible. He fired again and again, picking off guard after guard. Three targets fell—four, five. Marksmanship was something he excelled at, and he blanked out for the moment the fact they were comrades. Yaneta screamed. He saw her whirl, her glorious rainbow dress fanning out in the air. She’d been wounded; she was dead! It was only the dress, though, shredded by projectiles, and he saw her burn several guards across the chest fifty meters away, killing them instantly.
More guards were coming, though, an endless sea of them. Hatcher, Turtan saw, staggered from multiple wounds and was still struggling to hold on to the Emperor. Turtan rushed forward, seized Galan, and pulled him backward, leaving Hatcher behind as he entered the egress tube.
“Yaneta,” he screamed, “help me!”
She spun and ran into the tube. “What?”
“Take Galan in the ship. Don’t let him escape.”
“What about you?”
“Just go!”
She hesitated then grabbed the Emperor, who protested.
“I’m not—”
Yaneta threw him down the tube toward the ship.
Turtan crawled back along the tube. He found Hatcher lying on her stomach near its entrance. Her body was a bloody mess—the price, he saw, of her heroism. She’d picked a strategic position to cover their retreat.
As he watched, she fired her laser. With her free hand, she wiped blood from her eyes.
“How many out there?” he asked.
“Too many.” Her face was white. “You should leave.”
He knew she was right. “Harriet, you’re the best damned soldier I ever met. A credit to the Cross.”
Hatcher seemed unimpressed. She fired her laser again and glanced up at him. “Tan, you’re hard on women, aren’t you?”
He remembered Stella’s words nearly four thousand years before. Don’t leave, Tan. Don’t do this to us!
Hatcher reached out and pulled his head down. He felt her lips press against his, hard and demanding. Ever so lightly, she bit his lip.
When she pulled back, her eyes burned into his. “At least I kissed you before I died,” she said.

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming a ‘newbie’ in the world of publishing. It’s wonderful to have you here today, Heather.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I spent too many years in the finance industry. Most aspects were enjoyable. I loved working with clients, having a really good chat. I enjoyed helping them, giving advice that helped them. I hated the bureaucracy. Sell, sell, sell, more, more, more so the top execs can put more millions in their greedy stuffed personal pockets. I stepped back from full time 7 years ago and went casual. Great move until the bank did something really stupid. I resigned and decided to concentrate on my writing.
During my spare time if that’s what you call it, I am involved in our curling club, teaching (managing the league for our youth) and playing the sport I love 2 to 3 times a week during the winter months. I’ve become involved with a charity called the Healing Cycle. Hospice Palliative Care.
3 Years ago I lost my best friend to cancer. Breast cancer, liver cancer and a brain tumor. She took advantage of our local hospice and raved about it. Patti would go for a radiation or chemo treatment, but when we talked, she never complained and her face brightened like a light bulb as she talked about Palliative Care.
Patti inspired me and I admire her strength to this day. If I find success with my second career as a writer, the Healing Cycle will benefit, in memory of Patti. Love you and miss you terribly, my friend.
I want this care available to others.
Since you are getting ready to debut your first novel, things must be pretty exciting right about now! When is your big day?
Natasha’s Dream launches on Friday June 21st and I’ll be spending Sunday June 23rd assisting this organization in their biggest fundraiser of the year. Busy weekend!
And it’s only going to get busier. Take my word for it.
Here is an excerpt from Natasha’s Dream:
“After seeing you by the river yesterday, I had hoped for the opportunity to speak with you. So, I made alternate arrangements for my sister, and she remained at home.”
Natasha’s face flushed, realizing she’d been seen.
“I am terribly sorry. I have embarrassed you again.”
Natasha folded her hands and placed them on her lap as she fought to regain her composure.
“You have me intrigued. You must tell me about your experiences at school.”
Stewart smiled and began to speak. To Natasha’s delight, she found herself enthralled by the sound of his voice and captivated as his eyes sparkled. He was witty and blunt. Natasha chuckled as she listened to his stories, a refreshing change from the conversations with her parents and brothers, or even Nanny. Unable to recall a more enjoyable time, she laughed to the point of tears, breathless and almost embarrassed by some of his comments. Not only was Stewart handsome, he was intelligent. As he spoke of yet another event at school, her stomach rumbled. There was no question, it was a loud rumble. Embarrassed, she giggled.
“Oh, dear.”
“Dear, oh dear, indeed,” he responded, raising an eyebrow.
“Obviously I’ve lost track of the hour. I must return home this minute.”
“Will I see you tomorrow?” he asked in a serious tone. “We could meet here.”
“I shall try.”
“I shall look forward to it.”
Natasha stood and walked toward her home. Once she was certain Stewart could not see her, she began to jog, frantic Nanny might have missed her.
That night, after Nanny reviewed her assignments, Natasha removed her personal notebook from her wardrobe. After writing the date below the previous entry, she began:

Book cover – don’t I wish – Not yet, but coming soon!
I feel like an expecting mom, eagerly waiting to see my baby
picture

I love the excerpt, Heather. Tell me, how long have you been writing? Natasha’s Dream is my first attempt at writing. I began it ten years ago, after my husband suggested I put my imagination and dreams on paper.

What made you finally decide to get serious about it? The concept of writing a novel is still surreal. For the first few months I would open the page on my computer, type a few lines or paragraphs and leave it. I would go back a day or two later, read what I wrote, turn my nose up and delete it. In my naive mind, I assumed you wrote a book from start to finish. Nope. Not me anyway. With my husband’s suggestion, I wrote sections that inspired me at the time and went back and edited them fifty million times. Eventually, years later, it came together. For a person that lacks patience, I have a lot of patience with my work, trying to make it right. That’s exactly the way I began. I finally realized there is no set way to write. It’s just whatever works for you.

Describe what you consider your ideal writing conditions. Ideal writing conditions! Jazz playing in the background. Hubby on the next level, doing his thing, or beside me, quietly reading, dog curled up beside me having a nap. I love talk radio, big fan of CBC but I can’t listen and concentrate on my work. I love to listen to music appropriate to the scene I’m trying to write. It seems to inspire me.

Describe your rituals for preparing to write. I can’t say I have rituals. I write when I’m inspired for a scene. I’ll be walking the dog or doing yard work and think, oh, this should happen. Then I think and rethink the scene, think about it and decide, ‘it would be better if… and I’ll rewrite it. Now wonder it took me 10 years to write the series!

How often do you write? Daily – There are very few days I don’t write at all. I’m a bit addicted to the computer. My husband will question the term ‘A Bit’. Is there a group out there for computer addicts? We went on a European tour a couple of years ago. We were incredibly busy, but I still missed my computer. Same here – I try to plan certain days during the week to make myself stay off the computer and give my brain a rest.

I do an outline just to get the idea of the way I want the story to progress and to keep me from getting lost. What about you? Are you a plotter, a pantser or some combination of both? I always thought I was both but…maybe not.

Describe one of your favorite characters and tell us who you patterned them after and why. In Natasha’s Dream, I didn’t pattern characters after anyone in particular. Inspired from one of my dreams, my imagination gave me the outline and my characters had to ‘fit it’. The plot dictated the personality if that makes any sense. In the third book of the series, Natasha’s Hope, I bring in a character I have some fun with. Someone extreme.

Where do you go for inspiration? Life inspires. Conversations inspire. Put that together with something I’ve heard on the radio, a television program I’ve watched and something that happened to me 10 or 20 years ago…who knows.

Name an author or authors who never fail to inspire you. That’s tough. I can’t name a single author who I follow, who I can say I’ve read every novel they have written. I enjoy books that make me think or bring a tear or two to my eye. Inspire – that is so personal – what is the author’s ultimate goal? To become rich? To change the way you think about things? Who knows? It’s interesting. Take the author of ‘Fifty Shades of Gray’ (I haven’t read it) She had made a mint and is well known, but you don’t hear positive feedback about her book. Not well written. She is successful. I’ve heard her being interviewed on the radio and I enjoy them. If her goal was to become rich and famous, I’m proud of her. She achieved success. If her goal was to become known as a phenomenal writer, not so much. I’m inspired by people who accomplish a goal. If that person is able to make the world a slightly better place and do something good, you have my attention. JK Rowling inspires me. Rags to riches – Good for her. I get a warm sensation in my heart. She got kids reading, eager for the next book in the series. Bonus points. What a role model for her kids.

Tell us a little something about your current WIP. I do have another novel underway but it is still on the write, think, rewrite, edit, ponder, rewrite…stage. Having written a saga, it will be a year before all four novels are published.
Natasha’s Dream launches in a week, June 21
Natasha’s Diary launches in December 2013
Natasha’s Hope launches in March 2014
Natasha’s Legacy – my priority – to get it submitted

I have at least year to play with my next book. No need to rush.

Question for you and your followers:

Do you read one genre or are you interesting in reading almost anything? Right now I seem to be drawn to young adult. Hunger Games, The Scourge, Divergent. I love science fiction, urban fantasy, paranormal, historical, romance, action, but I will read anything, as long as it’s good and holds my attention.
Is there a particular genre you won’t read and why? There’s some I like better than others, but no. I’m not a fan of nonfiction, usually.
If your favourite author stepped outside the box and wrote something you normally avoid, would be willing to pick it up and read it? Sure I would. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I am delighted to interview author Kay Lalone today. Let’s find out some things about this lady.

How long have you been writing? Forever. But seriously for publication for about fourteen years.

What made you finally decide to get serious about writing? I worked on my writing when my two older sons were young, but it was hard to find the time between job and taking care of them. When I became pregnant with my youngest son, (two older sons were teenagers) I decided I wanted to be a stay-a-stay-at-home mom. So I decided it was time to get serious with my writing. I took a writing course at Institute of Children’s Writing. It taught me how to get published. I had my first short story published in 2001. I’ve had several short stories published until I got my first novel, Ghostly Clues, published in Nov 2012.

Describe what you consider your ideal writing conditions. My ideal writing condition would to be all alone in a cabin in the woods so that I could sit and write all day without interruptions and distractions. But, of course, that ideal writing condition has never happened. I write best when it is quiet, but that doesn’t happen very often either. So I have learned to adapt and let the writing flow.

Describe your rituals for preparing to write. I’m always thinking about stories ideas and my works in progress. So I jot down ideas in a notebook and write out scenes or do character sketches. I don’t really have any ritual for preparing to write. I just make my self sit in front of my laptop and write.

How often do you write? I try to write everyday which is kind of hard when I have a three year old grand nephew living with me now. I used to love to write in the morning, but I have adapted to writing in the evening after he goes to bed. My youngest son is fourteen so having a three year old around gives me a lot of picture book ideas. So hopefully one of these days I’ll have some picture books published.

Are you a plotter, a pantser or some combination of both? Panster. I love to sit down at the computer and just type whatever comes into my head. It’s a good way for my character to speak to me. Sometimes I wish I was a plotter first, but that comes later after I have a very rough draft done.

Describe one of your favorite characters and tell us who you patterned them after and why. Right now my favorite character would have to be Sarah Kay, the main character in Ghostly Clues. She is patterned after myself. She is the daughter I will never have.

Where do you go for inspiration? My kids have always been a great inspiration from my writing. Right now my grand nephew is a great inspiration. I need to come up with a picture book that has alligators, spiders, and snakes in it just for him. Also my dreams are a great inspiration for my stories.

Name an author or authors who never fail to inspire you. My favorite author is Nora Roberts. I like they way she makes her characters come to life on the pages. Heather Graham is another author that inspires me.

Tell us about your current WIP. Family Secret is at MuseItUp right now. Still waiting to see if they will publish it. The story is about a boy who discovers secrets about his parents that put his life in danger. There are demons, witches, and a ghost in this story. Another story I’m currently revising is Mysterious Visions about a girl who has visions and uses those visions to solve a mystery. Then there are other projects I’m working on plus countless story ideas rummaging though my head.

Thank you, Susan, for hosting me on your blog. Fun questions. Thank you for coming, Kay. It’s been a pleasure having you. And for those of you who haven’t read Ghostly Clues, you’re missing a treat. Even though it is a children’s book, I enjoyed it thoroughly and would recommend it highly for any middle grader.